free · in-browser · no upload
Drop your REFWORKS file. We'll convert it to NBIB right here in your browser, your file never leaves your device.
Select your file here to get started
or drop your file here.
Accepts .txt, .rwt
How it works
Click the dropzone above or drag a REFWORKS from your desktop. Files of any size, there's no upload, so there's no upload limit.
The conversion runs entirely in this tab using JavaScript and WebAssembly. Your file never touches our servers, we don't have any.
Get your NBIB the moment the conversion finishes. Convert another, or close the tab.
Your file is never uploaded. The entire conversion runs in your browser using WebAssembly. We can't see what you convert because we have no server to see it.
Server converters cap free users at 1-2 GB and gate larger files behind a paid plan. Since nothing uploads, our limit is whatever your browser can handle.
No account required. No watermark on the output. No queue. Drop a file, get a converted file.
Why convert RefWorks → NBIB
RefWorks (ProQuest) is the institutional reference manager many university libraries provide; it exports a tagged text file (RT, A1, T1, ...). This converts that export to NBIB so you can load the references into a PubMed-style manager. Title, authors, year, journal, volume, issue, pages, DOI, and keywords all carry across. Runs in your browser, nothing is uploaded.
You exported references from RefWorks as a tagged text file and need them in NBIB for a PubMed-style manager. Drop the file here and get NBIB back.
The file is not recognized.
Export from RefWorks in the Tagged Format (records begin with an RT line), not RIS or BibTeX. Each record needs an RT reference-type line.
Formats involved
REFWORKS is a file format we support converting. Detailed format information is being added, for now, drop your file in the converter above and you'll get the conversion you came for.
How to open
Most operating systems open this format with a default application; if not, search for a free reader/viewer for the format.
NBIB is the National Library of Medicine's citation format for PubMed exports. Structurally identical to RIS with a different tag dictionary (PMID, FAU, JT, AID instead of ID, AU, JO, DO). Reference managers treat .nbib files as RIS-flavored with PubMed-specific extensions. The format ships with PubMed downloads and the major systematic-review tools (Covidence, Rayyan).
How to open
Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote, Papers, all read NBIB natively. Plain text in any editor.
You may also need
Related tools
FAQ
Yes. No signup, no watermark, no daily file count limit. Every conversion runs in your browser, your file never touches our servers because there are no servers.
Nowhere. The conversion runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript and WebAssembly. Your file is never uploaded to our servers. We don't have any servers handling files, there's nothing for us to log, store, or accidentally leak.
Whatever your browser can hold in memory. Practically, this means a few hundred MB on most computers, significantly larger than the 1-2 GB caps that server-upload converters charge for. Very large files (multi-GB) may require closing other browser tabs first.
File interchange. PubMed citation export; systematic review imports. The most common reason to convert is compatibility, NBIB works in places where REFWORKS doesn't, or vice versa.
Most operating systems open this format with a default application; if not, search for a free reader/viewer for the format.
Once the page is loaded, the conversion itself runs entirely offline. The first time you use a tool, your browser downloads the conversion library (a one-time cache). If you reload while offline, the page won't load, but you can install the site as a Progressive Web App for full offline use.
Single file at a time for now. Batch conversion is on the roadmap, for now, drop one file, download the result, then convert the next.
